... sun. Not the wind so much and you get dust from the Sahara blowing in which made it impossible to see Lanzarote across the way at times. I found a relaxed hostel at the north end of town that had a nice back yard and deck leading down to the shore. I didn't get up to much during my time here apart from the beach, sun and cheap food and drink. Caught some of the World Cup matches and the F1 at a local bar, Alis Tavern, run by an Irish lady and her Italian boyfriend that was good ...

... for the return bus, so find a spot in the sun and a necessary chocolate brownie/birthday cake. The bus driver tells us how the law states that no high-rise buildings can be built in Lanzarote, except for one, a 17-story 5 star hotel on the beach front (built when the mayor was out of town).

This afternoon we made our own sangria concoction, composed of a cheap bottle of rioja, cask of pre-mixed sangria ...

Today we are jetting off into the sun, for a long weekend getaway for my birthday. We're leaving a surprisingly warm Edinburgh, which is fortunate because the walk to the tram is in t-shirts and jandals - yes, we are flying Ryan Air for the first time, and hand luggage is sparse. It was a slow start to the morning after a night out with the Edinburgh crew lastnight. To get into the Spanish theme, cousin Cheryl dared Kev to drink a jalapeno cocktail - ...

... way up to the changing tent and fenced on either side. We were lucky enough to get a spot right on the fence. Then all we could do was wait for the competitors to finish their 2.4 mile swims. The first guy came out around 47 minutes or something. A few more pros staggered out shortly after and then they groups started getting bigger and bigger. We were right by the area where they racers would run under a ton of shower faucets to get a little ...